MINNEAPOLIS – In a stunning display of athleticism, two men ran 50 miles around Lake Harriet in Minneapolis on Sunday – a distance of almost two full marathons back to back.
Patrick Larson and Jake Lepak ran 18 laps around the lake when it was all said and done.
The two friends are on the Special Olympics Minnesota Young Professionals Board. They ran to raise awareness and money for the organization.
Larson and Lebak both attended college, but nothing comparable. Fortunately, they were rarely alone.
“We’ve been joined by friends all day, people from the running community and Special Olympics athletes have also come to run with us, which has been a lot of fun,” Larson said. “So it really brought together all the people who care about this organization, care about us, and it was amazing.”
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During the unique challenge, they took plenty of water breaks and their official time was eight hours and one minute.
As they completed their final lap at the Lake Harriet Bandshell, a group of family and friends cheered. Lepak bowed and the couple high-fived.
They immediately got to work eating pizza and cracking a beer.
“I have no plans for the rest of the day, except the Timberwolves game at seven o’clock,” Lepak said. ‘Go Wolves.’
The runners raised more than $6,000 for the Special Olympics, exceeding their goal of $5,000.
